A super-fit 33 year-old has urged the public to watch out for signs of deadly leukamia — after her illness was initially mistaken for long Covid and toothache.
Olivia Knowles, from Blackpool, has undergone more than five gruelling treatments to destroy the blood cancer, but none have proved successful.
Her prognosis is now so bleak that one doctor recently asked if she’d consider exploring assisted dying options overseas.
The former triathlete has been especially shocked by her illness, given her impressive level of fitness.
‘I’m not saying I was the healthiest person in the world, but I was quite healthy – I didn’t have a lifestyle that was indicative of cancer,’ she said.
In fact, she first noticed the signs ‘something wasn’t right’ while competing in the Half Ironman World Championship in Finland in August 2023.
The two mile swim and 56 mile cycle went smoothly, she said, but the 13-mile run to the finish line quickly turned into a ‘let’s just get round this’.
‘I just wasn’t able to push as hard as I normally would have been able to,’ she said.
Olivia Knowles first noticed the signs ‘something wasn’t right’ while competing in the Half Ironman World Championship in Finland in August 2023, pictured
The former triathlete has been especially shocked by her illness, given her impressive level of fitness
Olivia, from Blackpool, has undergone more than five gruelling treatments to destroy the blood cancer , but none have proved successful
‘But I didn’t feel unwell day to day, so I was just pushing it to the back of my mind.’
The hair salon owner went to a private doctor a few months later about her surprising fitness struggles, but was told it was ‘very likely to be long Covid’.
The GP advised she should ‘expect to feel like this for some time’.
However, within a couple of days she began to suffer extreme toothache, which was quickly followed by the symptoms of life-threatening sepsis — when the immune system overreacts to an infection.
She was rushed to Blackpool A&E, where doctors performed tests before eventually diagnosing her with an aggressive form of acute myeloid leukaemia that responds poorly to treatment.
Leukaemia is cancer of the white blood cells — it happens when an excessive amount of malformed cells are produced, crowding out the healthy ones.
This leads to a host of complications, including problems with fighting infections, carrying oxygen around the body and controlling bleeding.
Acute myeloid leukaemia is a type of the disease that affects young white blood cells, and it progresses quickly and aggressively.
Her prognosis is now so bleak that one doctor recently asked if she’d consider exploring assisted dying options overseas
It is common for signs of the condition to be detected in the mouth, as the abnormal blood cells can build-up in the gums, causing pain and frequent bacterial infections.
Ms Knowles quickly began a regime of chemotherapy designed to ‘completely empty’ her bone marrow — where white blood cells are created — to see whether the cancerous cells grew back.
This procedure stripped away her immune system, leaving her extremely vulnerable to infection and unable to leave hospital.
‘I went to hospital on November 7 and I didn’t leave until Christmas Eve,’ she said.
Following two rounds of chemo with varying degrees of success, Olivia’s third treatment in April 2024 largely succeeded in eradicating her leukaemia.
But just before she was due to have a stem cell transplant to replace the harmful blood cells with fresh, healthy ones, a pre-surgery appointment was moved unexpectedly.
After a series of phone calls, she eventually learned that the hospital had postponed the surgery as she had suffered a relapse.
‘Even if there’s a speck of [leukemia cells] left, it just regrows.
‘And what regrows is basically the resistant cells, the ones that have evaded and resisted the previous chemo.’
Ms Knowles consultant at Blackpool Victoria Hospital gave her three options — try to get a transplant despite her relapse, join a clinical trial, or ‘do nothing’.
It was also at this point that another doctor asked if she’d ‘ever thought about taking a flight to Dignitas’.
She tried a few more drugs as part of clinical trials, all of which proved unsuccessful.
In November 2024, she was given a new promising treatment called CAR-T therapy – immunotherapy that genetically modifies a patient’s own fighter cells to make them attack cancer.
The treatment was followed by a stem cell transplant, which initially seemed to work.
‘There were no signs of disease. It was a really positive result. I was feeling probably the best I’d felt for quite some time.’
But a devastating blow came last month.
Olivia has been given months to live after her leukaemia was initially mistaken for long Covid. Pictured with her mother, Susan
After suffering with gut issues, she was readmitted to hospital, where doctors found that the leukemia had returned.
She said: ‘I’d been in for blood literally one week before. The blood work had been very good, no reason for concern.
‘One week later, I showed active disease.’
Her consultant was ‘blindsided’ by her relapse, because the transplant had gone so well.
‘I always thought that relapse would be a real possibility, but obviously, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.’
Eager to raise funds for the research team at King’s College Hospital where she was treated, she immediately embarked on a fitness challenge — walking a marathon around Fairhaven Lake.
She was forced to stop after 20 miles but still raised more than £25,000.
‘It went exactly how I expected it to go, because my legs have atrophied so much,’ she said.
She hopes the money will contribute to ‘solid advancements’, adding the team at King’s ‘are on the cusp of something excellent’.
Ms Knowles is currently putting her faith in a new chemotherapy regime, which began just a fortnight a go.
Reflecting on her treatment, she said: ‘We did almost do it, but almost doesn’t matter.
‘I did the walking marathon so one day, the next 33-year-old [diagnosed with leukemia] isn’t an “almost”.’
